Sisters That Sell

8551 Collingwood, Universal City 78148

carol — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:55:37 +0000

Shaded two story with many mature trees. Beautiful home with two living areas, a study, open kitchen with breakfast bar and breakfast area. Full Sprinkler system in front and back yard.

114 Rimdale, Universal City 78148

carol — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:59:09 +0000

Beautifully maintained on a nice quiet cul-de-sac. Many updates and upgrades throughout. Bedroom 5 is a seperate apartment (seperate entrance) that has living room, bedroom, full bath! Measurements are noted in other room 1&2. Lush landscaping in back yard with nice deck. Enjoy relaxing spring evenings. Island kitchen (it’s mobile!) with built in wine coolers! Easy to show and a beauty!

9586 Bowen Dr., San Antonio 78250

carol — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 21:52:23 +0000

A real dollhouse!! Recently remodeled to include ceramic tile flooring, granite counter tops, tile back splash & new stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. Fresh neutral color paint throughout. Newer carpeting in the bedrooms. New roof, electrical, HVAC & water heater. (please see assoc docs for complete list of upgrades.) Larger lot. Convenient to restaurants and shopping. This gem is move-in ready!!

1014 PARTER POND SAN ANTONIO 78260

carol — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 19:46:36 +0000

Lovely 4 bedroom home in Comal ISD. You will find an arched entry into the dining rm with niche to accomodate a china cabinet/hutch. The kitchen offers tiled back splash and stainless steel appliances. Ceramic flooring dwnstrs with carpeting up. Wall of windows in the family room lets in natural light with fireplace to add charm and warmth. High ceilings and open floor plan. Game room, master and 2 additional bedrms upstrs. Covered patio and second floor balcony. Master has outside access. Mature oaks.

1014 Parter Pond-Dining Rm	1014 Parter Pond-Family Rm	1014 Parter Pond-Kitchen	1014 Parter Pond-Family Rm/Breakfast Nook
1014 Parter Pond-Master Bedroom	1014 Parter Pond-Bedroom	1014 Parter Pond-Rear Deck	1014 Parter Pond-Rear Deck

0 Hwy 281, Bulverde 78322

carol — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:06:19 +0000

Land has frontage on 281N. It’s the lot South of Bordelon Collission.

Foreclosure vs. short sale ~ What happens to your credit in San Antonio, Texas?

carol — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:25:38 +0000

Homeowners looking to stop foreclosure have opportunities. One of these opportunities is a short sale. One of the primary reasons to explore a short sale is to save your credit. In most cases if this is possible, it is something one certainly should pursue. Let’s look at the facts:`

Credit History-

Foreclosure: Stays on your credit report for 10 years or more & remains a part of public record forever.

Short Sale: Is NOT reported on your credit history. There actually isn’t a specific reporting item for ‘short sale’. The loan is typically reported ‘paid in full, settled’. Your may or may not see the late payments on your report though but you won’t see “short sale”

Credit Score-

Foreclosure: A credit score can be lowered 250 to 300 points in the event of a foreclosure. You can expect your score to be affected for over 3 years.

Short Sale: If a short sale is successfully orchestrated on your home only late payments on your mortgage will show (as it is now). After the sale the mortgage will be recorded on your credit score as “paid or negotiated”. You can expect your score to be lowered by 50 points. A short sale’s affect can be as brief as 12 to 18 months. (Information from www.cdpenow.com)

Choosing to get a Realtor involved and letting them assist you sell your home in a short sale vs. letting it go into foreclosure can save you points on your credit report & years of bad credit.

The short sale process can be frustrating, long, invasive & downright time consuming but it is doable. A little bit of leg work can save you years of frustration down the road if you go to purchase something else.

Understanding the status abbreviations in the San Antonio MLS.

kristin — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 08:59:42 +0000

Realtors® use a lot of abbreviations.

While helping buyers find a home in the San Antonio area I often get asked questions about what the abbreviation in the status section means on the SABOR MLS (San Antonio Board of Realtors® Multiple Listing Service) sheets. There are different status updates depending on where the home is in the “for sale” process. For those who are curious what these abbreviations mean, I have compiled a list of the status and its definition.

NEW – This one is easy – this home was recently put on the market. From NEW, the home will go to ACT.

ACT – When searching the San Antonio MLS ACT means ACTIVE. The home is available!

BOM – Back on Market is the definition of this acronym. The home was recently under contract and is now BOM.

PCH – This listing has recently had a price change and will be listed with PCH.

AO – Means Active Option. When a home is under active option, both the seller and buyer have agreed to a sales price and buyer has asked for an option period. An option period is the time frame when the buyer gets their inspections done and has the option to back out of the contract for whatever reason. An option period is a time frame that the buyer pays for (usually).

ACT RFR – The homes is still active but it has a “right of first refusal.” What this means is that they’ve got a contract on the house, but for some reason or another they can’t close right now. The seller has accepted the contract, but says that they’re still going to take other offers, should they come in before the buyer can close. If another offer comes in, the seller will contact the buyer and say that they have to close the deal that they have under RFR. If the buyer can’t, the seller can accept the new offer.

SLD – SOLD! This one’s pretty self explanatory.

PND – This stands for pending. Usually a home will go from ACT to AO to PND.

PDB – “Pending send backups” means the house is under contract but “back-up” offers are accepted in case the original contract falls apart.

EXP – This listing has expired with their current agent. It might be renewed or might be permanently off the market.

CAN – This listing has been canceled. There are a variety of reasons why a listing is canceled.

WDN – This listing has been withdrawn from the market for whatever reason.

photo courtesy of laurakgibbs

Santa Maria at Alamo Ranch – TriStone Homes

kristin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 08:01:41 +0000

TriStone Homes at Alamo Ranch

Affordable, professionally built homes is what you will find in the quaint community of Santa Maria at Alamo Ranch, featuring exceptional architectural designs with an impressive list of included features you can’t go wrong with. Just outside of 1604 at Highway 151 (map), there’s a bundle of new shops around the area, restaurants galore, and let’s not forget, you’re only minutes from Sea World as well as Lackland Air Force Base.

Santa Maria At Alamo Ranch is a TriStone Home community within the NISD school district. Both the elementary and middle schools are within walking distance in the neighborhood!

TriStone Homes has some true Texas love that shines proud in it’s floorplan names at Santa Maria at Alamo Ranch. From The Bandera to The Huisache, there’s even The Lampasas and The Nacogdoches. Anyone that has a true love of Texas knows these familiar spots and their namesakes should be proud!

Gorgeous homes from the 185s to 220s with 1,877 up to 3,200 square feet. The Santa Maria at Alamo Ranch neighborhood has a community playscape and swimming pool, so there’s something for everyone in this excellent northwest San Antonio subdivision.

Let Rebecca Hall, a Sales Pro with TriStone Homes, tell you a little more about Santa Maria at Alamo Ranch. She knows so much about the community and loves to share it – including some photos from the neighborhood.

Welcome to Sisters That Sell.

sheila — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 09:35:39 +0000

We’re open for business.

It occurred to us that we never really welcomed you to the new look and feel for sistersthatsell.com. We’ve re-launched the site with some pretty lofty goals and we’re working hard to build this site into a great resource for San Antonio and New Braunfels area home buyers, sellers, and residents. We’re focusing on building more than just a real estate website – we want a community website where you can learn, share, relax, and communicate with us. We’re obviously in the real estate business, so we are focused on helping home buyers and sellers, but we take an avid interest in the communities as well, because we live here, work here, and play here.

In the coming months, you’ll continue to see improvements, new features, and tons of great information being added to the Sisters That Sell site and we hope you’ll come back regularly and invite your friends. In the meantime, there are some features of the new site that we’d like to point out as they are vastly improved from our previous site.

New features at Sisters That Sell.

Blog – You’re aware of the Sisters That Sell blog since you’re reading it, but we wanted to point it out because this is where we will be talking about local San Antonio and New Braunfels area neighborhoods, real estate topics pertinent to you, property management issues that affect real estate investors, and highlight local businesses that we use and appreciate. Have something you’d like to see covered in the blog? Email us.

Home Search – You can search for homes for sale in a million places on the internet, but we’ve brought one of the easiest to use and most powerful searches direct to you on our site. If you’re looking for homes in San Antonio, New Braunfels, Schertz, Cibolo, or any of the areas in between – this is the real estate search you’ve been waiting for. An easy to use map-based search allows you to define your criteria to narrow down and target your home search better than ever before. School district information, WalkScore, listing history (price changes), maps (including Street View), mortgage calculators, and demographic information for the neighborhoods are just a few of the advanced features that the new Sisters That Sell home search provides. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.

Moran Property Management – Request a Repair – Remember when you had to call, fax, or stop by the office to request repairs on your rental? With our new Moran Property Management Repair Request form, those days are over. Send us a request and we’ll put the wheels in motion to get the job done. Please note, if there is a fire, call 911 immediately.

These are just a few of the new enhancements we’ve launched on the Sisters That Sell website and there will be many more in the coming weeks and months. We hope you’re enjoying them and will come back for more as we move to make this site the best place for San Antonio and New Braunfels real estate information.

photo courtesy of TheGiantVermin

Options for homeowners facing foreclosure.

kristin — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 11:35:46 +0000

There may be alternate options for you.

Many homeowners might not know there are other avenues that can be researched to avoid a foreclosure and the affects it will have on your credit. The first step in a different direction would be to talk to a Realtor® who has experience in short sales. Here are some of the alternative options a Realtor® can help you through.

Reinstatement – In this situation a homeowner may have missed some payments but their hardship was temporary. In order to be reinstated they will be required to pay all back payments, late fees, and legal fees, but can be reinstated as they were prior to the hardship.

Forbearance or re-payment plan - This happens in a situation much like the reinstatement, but here the homeowner can’t afford to pay a lump sum payment, so arrangements are made with the mortgage company for a re-payment plan.

Sell the property – If there is equity in the property and the seller acts quickly enough prior to foreclosure by talking to a Realtor and listing their home with them, they maybe be able to sell it and stave off foreclosure action. Make sure you are aware of the time frames before foreclosure so that you and your Realtor® price your home right and you don’t wind up taking any offer that comes along in a panic.

Rent the property – In some cases this might be an option, but it may only be a temporary solution. Speak with a professional property manager who also understands residential real estate and foreclosures.

Refinance – If the homeowner has equity in their home and their credit hasn’t been damaged too much, this might be an option. If the issues that caused the homeowner to become deliquent have been addressed, this can be a good solution.

Mortgage modification – This is an option that requires the homeowner to qualify under new terms for a mortgage. It is similar to a low interest refinance where the lender lowers the interest rate on the existing loan in order to lower the payments.

Short-refi – In a short-refi the mortgage is refinanced with a reduction in the principle (and often the interest rate as well). A borrower will have to show a hardship and will have to qualify for a short-refi.

Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure – Sometimes referred to as a friendly foreclosure is when the homeowner gives the deed to their home back to the bank. This happens very infrequently but can save the mortgage company time and money of having to go through the lengthy and costly foreclosure procedure.

Bankruptcy – Sometimes this allows a homeowner to reorganize their debt and keep the property. If the homeowner does not make the payments after bankruptcy, the home will still foreclose.

Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) – This is a temporary relief that was put into place in 2003. Of course depending on your situation it is an avenue to research further.

And last but not least…

Short Sale – If all the above options don’t work a homeowner may decide to pursue a short sale. A short sale is when the homeowner owes more than their home is worth and negotiations need to be made with the mortgage company to accept less than the financed amount that is still due.

All of the above solutions in lieu of foreclosure make it clear the banks don’t want the homes back. What they want is to help homeowners find a solution to foreclosure. If you need help avoiding foreclosure, contact a local Realtor®.

photo courtesy of Nick Bastian Tempe, AZ